This invention is directed to an improved process for refinishing clear coat/color coat finish of a vehicle such as an automobile or a truck.
Clear coat/color coat finishes for automobiles and trucks have been used in recent years and are very popular. Kurauchi et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,543 issued Mar. 1, 1988 and Benefiel et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,639,147 issued Feb. 1, 1972 show the application of a clear coat to a color coat or basecoat in a "wet on wet" application, i.e., the clear coat is applied before the color coat is completely cured.
Repair of these clear coat/color coat finishes has been difficult in that the conventional refinish clear coating in current use does not dry to a tack free state in relatively short period of time and the vehicle cannot be moved without having dust and dirt stick to the clear coat nor can the clear coat be buffed until completely dried to form a finish with acceptable gloss and smoothness. In a typical refinish operation, after the color coat is applied, the clear coat is applied to the vehicle and the resulting finish is allowed to dry before the vehicle is moved. Before any further work can be done to the finish, it must be tack free so that dust and dirt will not stick to the finish and must be sufficiently hard to buff to improve gloss or remove minor imperfections. Conventional finishes have long drying and curing times and therefore, reduce the productivity of a refinish operation since the vehicles can not be moved and worked on quickly after application of the finish.
The improved process of this invention uses a clear coating composition that dries in a relatively short period of time to a hard and glossy finish which allows the vehicle to be moved and the finish can be buffed if necessary to remove minor imperfections and enhance gloss and improves the efficiency of a refinish operation by allowing more vehicles to be processed in the same or in less time.